IT Job Growth Slows

The demand for IT workers has slowed in the past year, but don’t panic: There are still plenty of jobs out there.

06/01/2001

A study by the Information Technology
Association of America (ITAA) found that companies
plan on hiring 900,000 new IT employees this year,
a startling reduction from Y2K, when companies
hired 1.6 million IT workers. The ITAA’s results
are based on interviews with 685 hiring managers
from within and outside the IT industry.

It wasn’t all gloom and doom for
techies. “While the current economic slowdown
has diminished demand, such demand for new talent
persists,” the report states, adding that of those
900,000 open positions, 425,000 will remain unfilled.

Bob Cohen, ITAA senior vice president,
echoed the report’s findings. “There’s been some
shift in the seller’s market. It’s not as brisk
or aggressive as it was last year, and it should
be understood by people coming into the job market
that the activity level may not be as frenetic
in terms of generating employer interest and multiple
phone calls from employers.”

Cohen added, however, “that shouldn’t
be confused with the notion that jobs aren’t out
there, that we’re seeing a loss of jobs. That’s
not the case.”

The study did find a shift in what
employers are looking for. Cohen said hiring managers
are moving toward hiring people with skill sets
that relate more to infrastructure, such as networking,
building enterprise systems and integrating supply
chains. The study also found that a four-year
college degree is the best preparation for landing
an IT job, but industry certification is still
important.